Cuomo announces early end to Sandy work on two tunnels

Gov. Cuomo got a rare opportunity to announce good transportation news Friday — Hurricane Sandy repair work on two major tunnels has wrapped up early.

While the subways are still in crisis mode, Cuomo went to LaGuardia Community College to announce the early finish to Sandy repair work on the Hugh L. Carey and Queens Midtown tunnels, ending weekend lane closures that’ve snarled traffic.

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He used the opportunity to run a highlight reel of his infrastructure bona fides, such as airport renovations and cashless tolling, while accusing President Trump of abandoning a campaign promise for $1.5 trillion in infrastructure spending.

"That plan disappeared, the $1.5 trillion. So many of the campaign promises that he made disappeared,” Cuomo said. “The $1.5 trillion has now become a $200 billion plan for the nation over a period of years — $200 billion for the nation over a period of years is nothing. It is nothing. New York State alone is doing $100 billion.”

The governor used the opportunity to discuss climate change as well, saying that deniers are “denying reality.”

Governor Of New York Andrew Cuomo, Joe Lhota Chairman of the MTA and Queens Borough President Melinda Katz at Queens Midtown Tunnel in Long Island City a ribbon cutting ceremony and talking about the upgrades to the Queens Midtown Tunnel on Friday. (Kevin C Downs / for New York Daily News)

“I believe this is a precursor and I believe this is going to happen again, and again, and again,” said Cuomo. “Plan for this to happen again. So then the challenge becomes different..”

Though Sandy hit the city six years ago, the MTA is still repairing the damage, particularly in the Canarsie tunnel, which will close down, sidelining the L subway line for 15 months.

Both the Queens-Midtown and Hugh L. Carey tunnels got flooded, though they’d been closed in preparation for the storm. Queens-Midtown Tunnel opened partially Nov. 8, 2012, and was in full operation eight days later. The Hugh L. Carey Tunnel opened to car traffic Nov. 13, 2012.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Joe Lhota recounted his run-in with Cuomo during Sandy, as the pair looked at water pouring into the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel from the Morris St. pedestrian bridge.

“He said, ‘Is this normal, Joe?’ And I said, ‘No, governor, it’s not,’” Lhota said. “But he did tell me one thing right after that, which was absolutely true — ‘we’re gonna fix this and we’re gonna fix this right.’ And we did.”

Cuomo and Lhota at a press conference at the Queens Midtown Tunnel on Friday. (Kevin C Downs for New York Daily News)

The tunnels also got flood-prevention equipment during the repair project.

After three years of construction, Queens-Midtown Tunnel work was finished 11 months early, while the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel finished nine months early. The work cost a total $558 million, with the help of $404 million from the Federal Emergency Management Administration, according to the governor’s office.

After Cuomo’s remarks at LaGuardia Community College, the governor and Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, along with Lhota and Bridges and Tunnels President Cedrick Fulton, snipped a blue ribbon at the Queens-Midtown Tunnel.

The tunnel’s entrance was flanked with large brass doors with the New York State seal and its mottos, Excelsior - Ever Upward and E Pluribus Unum, Out of Many, One..

The original granite walls that had been covered with pipes were restored.

“It was just filthy, the walls were literally brown. I’m a Queens boy, I thought they were brown walls my whole life,” Cuomo said. “Once they were decluttered and they were actually cleaned you see how beautiful the stone work is.”